


Bed of Roses

by Re0rient



Category: Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-14
Updated: 2013-11-14
Packaged: 2018-01-01 10:42:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1043856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Re0rient/pseuds/Re0rient
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A boy and girl fall in love. She dies young, so he buries her in satin. Gale's life after Madge's death in the bombing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bed of Roses

A boy and a girl sat at the piano while her long, nimble fingers ran over the keys. His left arm was wrapped around her waist, the other hand grasping something in his pocket, and the soft glow of the moon shined in on them through the window. Three months together had them fall in love. Now they took solace in the music she played, hiding from the television in the next room showing the awful horrors their friends were facing.

She began singing to him in her sweet voice while he watched her with his dark gray eyes, entranced by the way the tune rolled off her tongue and her golden hair fell around her shoulders.

"If I die young, bury me in satin  
Lay me down on a, bed of roses  
Sink me in the river, at dawn  
Send me away with the words of a love song."  
  
"That song's too sad for you to sing, Madge," he said.

"It might come true, Gale. You never know."

"Don't say that," he replied, his eyes flashing. Gale couldn't stand the idea of losing her.

Madge ignored him. "If it does, Gale," she pushed on, "make sure they don't stick me in the ground. Make sure they don't let weeds and dirt smother me for the rest of my life. I want my body to be like it says in the song, on a bed of roses flowing down a river. And-"

"You're not going to die young," he insisted, placing his callused fingers on her silky lips to stop her from speaking. "We're going to die together, gray haired and cranky with old age."

Madge laughed at him, taking it as a joke. "You're already cranky."

"I'm serious, Madge. Together. Always."

Surprise filled her bright green eyes. "You're serious," she said.

"I already talked to your dad and everything." His voice raised excitedly. "Aquilo is willing to give me a job, so you won't even have to be far away from your family or anything. Madge, I know it's not a lot to go on and we've only been dating a few months, but I..I love you and I know we're meant to be. I need you."

Madge looked at him sadly, but didn't say anything. They both know the chances of a Seam/Town relationship making it for good. Zero. As far as they knew, only Mr. and Mrs. Everdeen made it to marriage, and their daughter was about to spark a rebellion. _But he said he needs you, Madge._

Uneasy at her silence, Gale continued speaking. "Most Seam guys run after Town girls for fun, as a joke, just to brag to the rest of us that they had a blonde. This isn't like that. I want to marry you, Madge."

She wanted to say yes so badly. The idea of living without him made her have nightmares, but she forced herself to think logically.

"Gale, we're so young. With everything going on, it's easy to make rash decisions based on how we feel without thinking things through."

"I've thought this through, Madge. We're no younger than my parents were when they got married. Or Katniss' parents. And if you're worried I'm still in love with _her_ , I'm not. I thought I was, but she's the only girl I've trusted until you. I made myself believe I loved her because of the jealousy I felt watching her and Peeta during the Games, but I only felt that jealousy because I never had to share Katniss, with anyone, ever."

"Gale-"

"It was easy to hate you, Madge, to convince myself that you were the reason for all our problems because you had money and we didn't, but when you brought me the morphling, I realized something. The Capitol is the reason for everything. The reason I had to grow up at the age of 14. The reason Katniss and Peeta could die any second now. The reason I have all these scars on my back. The reason I didn't get to know you sooner."

"But Gale-"

"Madge, we don't know how much time we have left with each other. I could die tomorrow. I could die tonight on the way home. I know this is right, no matter what anyone else says about us."

Gale said all of this in a rushed manner, getting out everything that had been troubling him for the past few weeks. Madge was shocked into silence by his outburst. It was unusual for Gale to say so much at once.

"Gale, you haven't asked me anything yet." Madge smiled at him.

When Gale figured out what she meant, he grinned, but hesitated as he started to speak again. "Listen, Madge, I don't have the type of ring you'd probably expect, but..," he trailed off and pulled a ring out of his pocket, lifting it up to show the unusual green band to her.

"There's this weird green stone I found while I was hunting one day and I whittled it down with my knife until it was smooth."

The grassy-green ring was marbled with different hues of blue, creating veins throughout the little loop. It reminded him of her eyes.

Gale watched her, waiting for her reaction. How could he be so stupid? She deserved a diamond ring made of precious metals. She probably hated him now. "Err..I'm sorry it's not the type you'd be used to, but I don't have-"

Madge looked up at him. "It's beautiful, Gale." His mind flooded with relief.

"Will you marry me, Madge?"

Before she could give her answer, they heard commotion in the next room. Madge rose from the piano bench and sprinted toward the noise, all thoughts falling from her mind. Her mom's headaches had been more volatile than usual the past few days.

Frustrated, Gale put the ring back in his pocket and ran his fingers through his dark hair before following Madge into the room where the television was. _Damn_ , he thought. _So close_.

When he walked into the room, Madge was staring directly at the television, not blinking. Her mom was sitting on the couch sobbing with her arms over her head as if trying to block everything out. Madge's dad was in the corner rapidly whispering into the phone to someone on the other line.

Gale turned his head to the instant replay the Capitol kept showing. He watched Johanna Mason stick her knife into Katniss' forearm and twist it around, letting Katniss' crimson red blood trail down to her fingers and drip onto the ground. Then there was an explosion somewhere in the clock arena. Finally, the Capitol cuts off all feed, ending with the seal of Panem.

He was confused as to why the coverage suddenly ended, but he knew what it meant if Katniss' alliance finally turned on her. It didn't show Katniss dying, but there was no doubt in his mind what happened.

Gale took Madge's hand and squeezed it. She moved closer to him and he threw his arms around her as she buried her face into his neck, her salty tears stinging him.

_Katniss is dead. Katniss is dead. Katniss is dead._

Madge's dad hung up the phone and slammed the receiver into its base on the wall. He turned to Gale and Madge. "Gale, take Mari and Madge and run," he said urgently.

"Why?" Gale asked.

"Just get out," he commanded. "I'll meet up with the three of you later."

"Dad, what are you talking about?" Madge asked.

"Just _go_. Get over the fence. Take only what you need. Warn others."

The silver-haired mayor refused to say anything else. The man met Gale's eyes, trying to convey a silent message. Gale had always been good at reading other people. He could tell something bad was about to happen and the man was pleading with Gale to save his family.

"Madge, let's go." She looked at him in confusion but she assumed Gale understood.

"All right. Let me get something first."

"Madge, we have to go _now_."

"Let me get something," she insisted. Mrs. Undersee's sobbing clouded his thoughts and he let Madge go. When she left the room, Mrs. Undersee started shrieking. The mayor ran to comfort her.

"Gale, sound the emergency alarm. Once you're over the fence and deep into the woods, you'll be safe. Help will arrive from Thirteen."

"What's going on? Thirteen? What are you talking about?"

"Thirteen is the Rebel Headquarters. Bombs will come to Twelve because of what just happened at the Quell. I hope Katniss is not dead."

This left Gale with more questions, but his mind was still reeling at the idea that Thirteen still existed. And why wasn't the mayor going to come with them?

"You're a coward," Gale said, angry. "You're afraid of what's going to happen if you live."

The mayor's eyes flashed at the accusation. "Gale, there's a reason for everything-"

"They're both going to hate you."

"Don't talk about things you don't know of. Madge would rather you live than me."

Before Gale could snap back, Madge ran back into the room with a white knapsack flung over her shoulders. He disagreed with the mayor's decision, but his main concern was to save Madge.

"Let's go," she said. Madge kissed her dad on the cheek, not knowing it would be the last time she'd ever see him. Madge's mom held onto the mayor, refusing to leave.

"Mari, you have to go," he whispered to her. "Please."

Instead, she tightened her grip on his neck and screamed. Mr. Undersee tried to push her away, unsuccessfully. Gale attempted to pull her off of him. They were losing time.

"Just come with us!" Gale hissed to the mayor so Madge couldn't hear. Ignoring Gale, Mr. Undersee whispered something into his wife's ear, at which she loosened her hold on the mayor just a little. It was enough for Gale to pry the frail middle-aged woman away and scoop her into his arms.

"Let's get of here," he said to Madge.

As they ran out of the house, they heard the mayor say his last words.

"Take care of my girls, Gale."

Gale ran down the street towards the Seam. Madge sprinted by his side. Twinkling stars littered the black expanse of the night sky. Perfect night for the hunter, Gale thought. Bad for the hunted.

When they arrived at the Town/Seam border, the bombs began to fall.

...

District Twelve was going up in flames. The Justice Building. Madge's house. The town square. The rest of the town.

Gale had sounded the siren, waking all of District Twelve. The Town citizens woke up to find their houses burning to the ground. Most, if not all, died. The Seam was luckier.

The smell of death and smoke was in the air. Gale saw the outlines of bodies lying in the road. The ground rumbled underneath their feet as the Capitol planes dropped wave after wave of bombs. Houses were crackling with bright red and orange flames, spitting out ash. Debris was flying everywhere, threatening to impale anyone still living.

Gale and all his coal miner friends were at the fence, hoisting women and children off the ground and throwing them over. A bomb had hit the power building, so the metal fence wasn't charged with electricity. He shared a look with Thom. Both knew the situation was dire. Planes continued coming with no end in sight and only half the Seam was safely over the fence. Gale's family was safely over, along with Madge's mom, but it would be at the expense of many people he grew up with.

Madge's state of mind was in shambles while she helped some of the younger children get over. Everything from her childhood was burning to the ground. When she saw bombs hitting her neighborhood, Gale had to hold her back as she kicked and screamed at him, trying to get back to her father.

"I'm sorry, Madge."

"If you say sorry one more time, I will kill you."

"You should get to safety in the forest."

"If you tell me that one more time, I will kill you."

"Madge-"

"Shut up, Gale. Do you really expect me to leave you after what just happened to my dad? Do you want me to grieve for you if you die playing the hero? If we die tonight, we die together."

Gale knew it was hopeless to argue. Besides, somewhere deep inside he was secretly happy she would be there with him no matter what.

"Always."

The two of them continued helping people over as the bombs started dropping a little too close to where they stood. Gale looked over at his friends. All were focused on the task at hand. None of them thought to run away and save themselves. It's what made them good at their jobs. In the mines, they had to think about the others.

"I think we've saved everyone we can!" Thom bellowed.

Gale looked into the shadows. The fires casted light over the street and revealed the bodies of friends. He didn't want to leave those still lying on the ground.

"We have to go, Gale," Madge said. "You can't help them."

"Start climbing over!" Gale shouted. All the olive skinned, dark haired men dexterously pulled themselves up over the fence and started running to safety. When he turned around to check on Madge, he found she was already on the other side. He put his hands on the metal links and swung himself over. A bomb fell as he did so, causing him to lose his grip. His shirt caught on the barbed wire and a hunk of cloth tore off. On his descent he scraped his forearms, but he wiped off the blood on his pants and ignored the pain.

"Are you all right?" she asked, moving towards him. "We should bandage it."

"I'm fine. We can deal with it later. Even though we're over the fence, we're not out of danger yet." He looked back at the Seam. It may not have been the easiest place to live in, but it was still home.

Gale forced himself to look away. He took Madge's hand and they started sprinting into the woods, both thinking about the memories of the place they left behind. Their feet pounded the grass as they ran for their lives, avoided falling tree limbs, and darted in and out between burning patches of grass.

"Where are we going?" Madge yelled.

"I told-"

Before Gale could articulate an answer, a bomb dropped a few yards behind them. The impact sent Gale and Madge soaring through the air. Gale slammed into the ground, the skin on his face breaking on the rocky terrain. His arm felt tender. He tried to move it, but he was pretty sure it was broken. As he tried to catch his breath, he turned over, trying to see if Madge was okay.

She wasn't.

Madge was sprawled out behind him on a fallen tree limb. The white knapsack and the back of her shirt were singed from the heat of the flames. Gale ran to her and turned her over. His eyes widened in horror when he felt the warm pool of blood flowing out of her stomach. The wound was made by the rough point of the broken limb.

"No, no, no, no." Gale could see the fear in her eyes, but he forced himself to be calm. "Can you walk?" he asked.

"I don't know," she replied, groaning as she attempted to stand. She would have fell back onto the ground, but Gale caught her in time. "I think my ankle is broken."

Her eyes met his and he knew what she was about to say. "Just go, Gale. I'll only slow you down."

"No!" he said fiercely. Another bomb fell ten yards behind them as Gale made the only decision he could allow himself to make.

Gale ripped some cloth off his shirt with his good arm and wrapped it around her wound to stop the flow of the blood. Then he awkwardly lifted her into his arms, ignoring the sharp pain he felt in his injured one. Gale ran deeper into the forest and tried to clear the anguish from his head as he carried her to the house by the lake.

The cloth he used to absorb the blood was soaked. Madge was stark white and her forehead was covered in a sheen of sweat. "Hang in there, Madge."

"Gale-"

"We'll be there in a few minutes and everything will be fine."

Madge knew it was too much to hope for, but she let him hope for it.

Gale finally arrived at the tiny cabin by the lake. Everyone was sitting in the grass around the little house. The women were trying to calm the mewling children. Prim and Mrs. Everdeen were tending to the burns of the injured. Mrs. Undersee sat slumped against the house, staring emptily into space. Hazelle, Rory, Vick, and Posy were huddled together next to the lake. A concerned look fleeted over his mother's face, but she knew better than to bother him in his state.

"Gale, what's going on?" Thom shouted amidst the calls of other men asking the same thing. He ignored everyone's questions and ran straight into the house. Mrs. Everdeen followed him in, carrying her healer bag. Gale laid Madge down on the wooden floor and helped her sit upright against the wall. Then he pulled the white knapsack off her back and placed it on the ground next to him. He kneeled down beside Madge and wrapped her hand in his. Gale looked pleadingly at Mrs. Everdeen. "Save her."

While Mrs. Everdeen assessed the wound, Gale whispered anything and everything into Madge's ear. He had to keep her from falling unconscious. He knew what would happen if she gave in.

"Stay awake, Madge. Stay here with me." Gale squeezed her fingers, wanting to anchor some part of her body to his. He was afraid that she would fly away if he let go.

"Gale," she whispered.

"She's lost too much blood," said Mrs. Everdeen. "There's nothing I can do."

"What?" he asked, confused. Then realization hits him. "No, no, no, you can fix that. You can fix _anything_."

"I'm sorry, Gale, but I have to help the others who have been injured. If I tried, I would just be wasting time that others need." Mrs. Everdeen stood and picked up her bag, ready to walk out.

"NO! SAVE HER! DO SOMETHING!" Gale had an overwhelming desire to throttle Mrs. Everdeen.

"Stop acting like a child, Gale," the older woman said coldly. "You're not the only one whose going to suffer a loss tonight."

"Is that it then?" he shouted. "You're going to let Madge die because Katniss is gone? Screw you. Katniss would be ashamed!" As soon as Gale said those words, Mrs. Everdeen turned pale and walked out of the tiny house.

Gale released Madge's hand and stood up to yell after Mrs. Everdeen's retreating figure. He didn't care if anyone thought he was insane. "Yeah, run away! That's all you've done your whole life. You left Katniss to grow up way before she should have." He kept screaming even after she was out of earshot. "You left Katniss to take care of Prim!"

"Gale, shut up," Madge croaked in uneven breaths, still in pain. He turned around and rushed back to her. Her skin was clammy with sweat. The blood was seeping through the fabric around her stomach. Anyone else could have seen she didn't have much longer, but Gale didn't want to see.

"Madge, you're going to be fine," he forced. "I'll go find Prim. She knows just as much as Mrs. Everdeen and she'll help you."

"Don't leave me," she pleaded.

"I need to find someone who will help."

"No one can help."

"You're not going to die."

Ignoring him, she pushed the white bag towards him. "Open it after the funeral."

"Madge-"

"Don't forget the song. If you let them stick me in the ground, I will come back to haunt you." She intertwined her fingers with his. Her eyes started to close drowsily.

_If I die young, bury me in satin_  
Lay me down on a, bed of roses  
Sink me in the river, at dawn  
Send me away with the words of a love song 

"No, Madge stay with me. Please, stay with me." Gale didn't know what to do.

"Madge, will you marry me?" he asked desperately.

Her eyes flew open, twinkling. "I guess you'll find out someday, won't you?"

Gale would wait as long as he needed for the answer. He brought her fingers to his mouth, kissing them softly. "Together?" he whispered, tears falling from his eyes for the first time in four years.

"Always."

Then she died.

...

When the Thirteen rescue crew came, Gale stared ahead with no emotion.

Madge was dead.

Mom dragged him into a standard gray room with drab furniture.

Madge was dead.

Katniss was alive.

Madge was dead. Nothing mattered to him anymore.

Gale crawled out of bed for the first time since he arrived in Thirteen. He needed to get out of the Underground before he lost his mind.

Or maybe he'd already lost it.

Gale ran into Haymitch, who was standing right outside his room.

"Katniss is awake," the older man said.

"So what?"

"I'm sure she'd like to hear the news from you."

"What news? That Twelve is gone? That half of the people we know are dead? That Peeta is stuck in the Capitol, probably being tortured as we speak? Whatever it is, she doesn't need to hear it from me." There was no bitterness in his voice. He spoke as if he were talking about the weather.

Gale pushed past Haymitch towards the elevator. He felt suffocated by the enclosed space of the corridor. It didn't help that Haymitch reeked of alcohol. Somehow he managed to find liquor no matter where he was.

"They won't let you go outside without guards."

"Why not?"

"Because you're high-risk. Who knows what you'll do out there?"

"Why should they care what happens to me?"

"They don't. They care about what people think happens to you."

"So it's about the way it looks? I only need to stay alive so people will want to rebel, right? People don't matter as long as Coin gets what she wants."

"This is about people, you stupid boy. So more people won't have to die every year in the Games." Gale kept moving towards the elevator. He'd find a way out of there. He could live in the forest by himself.

"This is so the people you love won't die. I've lost everyone to the Capitol. You want to end up like me, boy?"

Gale thought about the idea. Drunk all day and all night, unfeeling, forgetting. Maybe he wanted to end up like Haymitch.

"If I couldn't die in the fire, at least I can drink myself to death."

"What happened to you? All that anger at the Capitol, that desire to rebel, all gone?"

"Nothing matters if she's dead," he sighed. None of this talk was helping him get out of here. "If I talk to Katniss, will you let me go outside without guards?"

"Fine."

Haymitch took Gale to the Hospital Unit of the Underground. Everyone they passed on their way there was afraid to look into his eyes. If the eyes are the window to the soul, no one wanted to know what was going on inside Gale Hawthorne. An unknown hand led Gale into Katniss' room, where the medics injected something into her to make her wake up. Her eyes were empty, just like his.

"Gale," she whispered.

"Hey, Catnip."

"Prim?" she asked. She attempted to sit up and failed.

"She's alive. So is you mother. I got them out in time."

"After the Games, they sent in planes. Dropped firebombs." Gale hesitated. He had to tell her even if she didn't want to know. "Well, you know what happened to the Hob."

"They're not in District Twelve?" she asked.

"Katniss," he began.

"Don't." Gale never lied to her.

"Katniss, there is no District Twelve." His words hit her in the face like the blast in the arena. She didn't want to believe it. Everything was gone, burned down. But she didn't understand the emptiness in his eyes. They were like her mother's eyes when her father died.

"Gale, is your family okay?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, they're fine." Why was his voice so emotionless, so broken? Katniss always counted on Gale to be angry and full of rage.

"Then why-"

Gale ran out of the room before she could finish her question. He stood outside her door, his head against the wall, trying to push the tears away. He banged his fists into the concrete blocks. He wanted to feel pain. Everything was so unfair.

Prim rounded the corner near Katniss' room. At the sight of Gale, she ran through the doorway, concerned for her sister.

Their voices floated out the into the hall, but they barely registered in Gale's mind.

"What happened to him?" Katniss demanded.

"Madge is dead," she replied sadly.

Gale couldn't take it. Hearing those words made it final. He ran out of the Hospital Unit and into the elevator, pushing everyone out of the way.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" a random man shouted at him.

Gale pushed the buttons to make the elevator go all the way to the top. He needed fresh air. He needed the whole world at his feet to be able to breathe. No one bothered to stop him.

It was raining outside. It had been raining for two days straight. The world was mourning for the survivors. Not for the people who had died. No, they had it easy. The people left were the ones who would suffer.

Outside he found Mrs. Undersee, sobbing and soaked from the rain. She had been pulling up the few flowers Thirteen could boast of. Now she was plucking off the petals one by one and letting them fall into the mud.

"It's all my fault," she said. "If I had left without a fuss, we would have gotten out sooner, alerted people sooner, and more people would have lived. She would have lived."

Gale said nothing. He allowed himself to stand in the rain. It was the only place where no one could see the tears falling to the ground with the raindrops.

Mrs. Undersee looked up at him. "You should have left me with my husband. I could have died with him. You and Madge would have been able to make it to safety and start a life together."

"You think she would have been happy if her parents died?"

"She would have been happy as long as you were alive."

Gale sat down on the steps. He listened as the rain splashed onto the ground, forming puddles like the ones he used to jump in when he was younger. His mom always used to get angry at him, but his dad told him to have fun while it lasted.

The rain stopped and the gray skies cleared as the rays of sunlight shone down on the grievers. Gale and Mrs. Undersee looked up to find a vibrantly colored rainbow in the sky above them, penetrating the clouds. They sat there in silence and stared at the happy symbol coming to them in times of trouble.

_Lord make me a rainbow, I'll shine down on my mother_  
She'll know I'm safe with you when she stands under my colors, oh and  
Life ain't always what you think it ought to be, no  
Ain't even grey, but she buries her baby 

"She's telling us that she's safe," Mrs. Undersee said softly. "She always loved rainbows. When she was younger she'd be the first one out after a storm, looking for the colors."

Gale smiled at the thought of a two foot tall Madge running around, laughing and splashing around in puddles like he did.

"The rest of us aren't safe, Mrs. Undersee."

"I never thought I'd be the one burying my little girl," she said. Her hair was still golden like Madge's, with none of the silver streaks that plagued the mayor. "But it has to be done."

"I'll take care of it," Gale said forcefully.

It was Madge's last wish. He would be the one to fulfill it.

The sharp knife of a short life, well  
I've had just enough time

The Capitol cut her life short, but she'd been able to change the life of a broken boy in the time she lived.

...

Gale woke up before sunrise the day of the funeral. He put on the only clothes he owned and pocketed the stone green ring. He took Madge's white bag with him, remembering her words. Open it after the funeral.

It hadn't been easy, making the arrangements for the ceremony. The leaders of Thirteen wondered why they should waste their time providing for an unimportant girl, but Katniss' threats set them straight.

Gale climbed out of the Underground. It was still dark out and Gale could feel the early January chill. He walked through the forest that linked Thirteen to Twelve and listened to the crunch of the frosty grass below his feet. He was the last to arrive at the spot where they would send her off. Every one of the survivors was there. Twelve would band together in the coming days. It wasn't going to be easy to integrate into Thirteen.

All were dressed in clothes like their reaping clothes. It was fitting. Death was coming to reap Madge's soul.

Gale made his way towards the gently flowing river. All the onlookers were watching his every move. Everyone wondered what the white bag contained. Mrs. Undersee was kneeling by the cedar wood casket, which lay next to the water. He sunk down by the casket next to her and set the white bag on the ground next to him. He opened the glass lid and unwrapped the white satin that was covering her.

Gale looked at the lifeless body of the girl he loved so well. She was wearing a dress similar to the white one she wore at the reaping that began all of this. Her skin was pale. Her long eyelashes framed her shut eyelids. She could easily have been asleep.

The first pink rays of the sun were starting to come up over the horizon.

Gale unclasped Madge's hands and pulled the green stone ring out of his pocket. He slid the ring onto her cold finger and folded her hands back together.

Hazelle came up behind him and put her hand on his shoulder. "Gale. It's time."

He laid a soft kiss on Madge's cold, unfeeling lips. "Always," he whispered in her ear. Mrs. Undersee took the urn sitting on the ground next to the riverbank into her hands and scattered the fresh rose petals within all over Madge's body. Gale then closed the glass lid and stood up.

The Seam musicians began playing Twelve's district anthem as Katniss, Thom, and Rory gathered behind Gale.

_If I die young, bury me in satin_  
Lay me down on a bed of roses  
Sink me in the river at dawn  
Send me away with the words of a love song 

The four picked up the casket with ease and set it in the water. Gale pushed the casket away and watched it drift downstream. He put his three middle fingers to his lips and pushed his fingers out towards her, then brought his hand back down to his side. Katniss did the same. So did Mrs. Undersee. And Rory, and Thom, Hazelle, and Haymitch. The rest who were there followed suit. Gale stood by the riverbank until the coffin was out of view. Then he sat down by the water. People began leaving to go back to the Underground. They understood Gale's need to mourn in private and averted their eyes at the poignant scene.

The sharp knife of a short life, well  
I've had just enough time

Mrs. Undersee didn't stay much longer. She had buried everyone she loved in two days. It hurt too much for her to hang around.

Katniss stayed the longest. She understood the pain Gale felt. She knew why he wanted to lay down next to the river and never get up again. It was how she felt then, unsure if Peeta was alive.

"I'm sorry, Gale," she said, sitting down next to him.

He looked at her and shook his head, twisting his mouth into a rueful smile.

"Don't be sorry, Catnip. Any word about Peeta yet?"

"Nope.

"Who would have thought we'd both fall in love with some townies, huh?"

They both chuckled, but neither said anything.

Gale breathed in the fresh air. The sunrise lent them some heat in the frigid temperature. The trees, moss, and grass were thriving due to the recent rain. The river was crystal clear, a transparent blue. It was almost unfair for nature to be this beautiful on a day of such sorrow.

"So what's in the bag?" Gale asked, breaking the silence. He had been wondering why she had one with her. "You don't carry bags, unless there's game in them."

"I have something for you," she said as she pulled a box out of the black pouch. "A bunch of us chipped in to get you these," she continued and opened the lid. Inside, Gale saw a tray of strawberry seedlings beginning to sprout up from the soil.

A smile teased his face. The fruit that brought him and Madge together. "Tell them I said thanks," he said, before taking the tray from her.

"I will. I'll meet up with you later, Gale," Katniss said as she stood up. "Stay safe."

He nodded and waited a few minutes to make sure she had left.

Gale searched for a patch of soil where he could plant the strawberries. When he found one, he began digging little holes with his fingers, all evenly spaced apart. He then took the baby plants out one by one and inserted them into the soil. He patted down the dirt surrounding the plants. Gale used the tray to collect water from the river and poured it onto the seedlings. Then he returned to sit by the stream.

"You had a short life, Madge. But I promise I'm going to give the Capitol hell for what they've done. I won't ever forget you."

Gale picked up the white knapsack from the ground he was sitting on. He pulled the drawstrings open and emptied the contents onto his lap. He was surprised when a medium-sized black box fell out. He gingerly opened the cover of the box, almost afraid of what he'd find inside.

Inside the box, there was the strand of pearls from her father Madge had treasured. Gale had no use for pearls. They would only serve as a painful memory. He threw the strand into the river and watched it sink below the surface. Madge could have it.

Under the pearls, however, there was a book with a sky blue leather binding.

He opened it and found Madge's familiar loopy handwriting. Most of it was song lyrics and sheet music she'd played for him, but occasionally he would find her thoughts written down. Lately, it was mostly about him.

In the beginning, she wrote about how angry he would make her with his cool indifference. _Gale makes me so angry! How can Katniss be friends with him?_

Later on, she was mostly confused about how she felt. _When Gale brought the strawberries the other day I was excited to see him. Why would I be excited to see him?_

The night she brought the morphling, Madge wrote, _It hurt me to see Gale flayed by the Peacekeeper. I had to bring him the morphling. I'm scared, though. I think I'm falling in love with him._

Towards the end, _Dad's been nervous lately. He keeps telling me to always be ready. Ready for what? I don't know. Anyway, Gale came over today. It was the first time he told me he loved me. And I love him too._

The very last entry. _Gale asked me to marry him just now. YES._

The last word was written in large letters, taking up the entire page.

_And I'll be wearing white, when I come into your kingdom_  
I'm as green as the ring on my little cold finger,  
I've never known the lovin' of a man  
But it sure felt nice when he was holding my hand 

Gale closed the book. Bittersweet happiness filled his heart to the brim. This one, he would keep. He dropped the book into his jacket's inside chest pocket, next to his beating heart. Her words would stay with him, always. Gale lied down next to the rushing water with his hands on his chest.

_There's a boy here in town who says he'll love me forever_

"Gale?"

He sat up and found Madge floating over the river. She was somewhere in between real and not real. She looked corporeal, but somehow he knew she would disappear if he touched her.

"Hey, Madge."

Her blonde hair was glittering with no help from the sun. She was wearing the white reaping dress and the pearls he had just thrown away. The green ring encircled her finger.

"I'll love you forever, Madge," he whispered inaudibly, but he knew she would hear him.

"We'll be together someday," she whispered back to him. "But be happy while you're there, Gale." He put his hand out, wanting to touch her. She lowered her hand to him, but when his met hers he felt nothing. A gentle breeze blew her away.

_Who would have thought forever could be severed by_  
The sharp knife of a short life, well,  
I've had just enough time 

Gale dropped to the ground. His heart was breaking.

_So put on your best boys, and I'll wear my pearls  
What I never did is done_

...

Mrs. Undersee died within the month. Gale was happy for her because he knew it was what she wanted. He could imagine the family reunion.

The living were not as lucky.

The rebellion wasn't going well. They had friends dying left and right. Thom had died in a mission the week before. There was no body left. Peeta was back, but the Capitol had done their number on him. Even with the treatments, no one knew if he would ever be the same again. Everyone was so tired, so worn down and broken. They were all tired of Snow's mind games, the Capitol's traps, and burying their friends.

"What we need is to inspire people to fight again," droned Plutarch. "The first spark of the rebellion was when Katniss and Peeta refused to play by the rules, right?" He paused as if waiting for assent. When it didn't come, he continued, "They threatened to eat the berries, beating the Capitol at their own game. This inspired people to rebel. If two children could do it, why not the districts?"

Gale leaned over and whispered to Katniss. "Funny how he's from the Capitol and pretending he's one of us."

She smirked. "Yeah, who's he calling a child? This child can stick him with an arrow. Blindfolded."

Haymitch interrupted Plutarch's monologue. "And exactly how are we supposed to inspire people to fight when this one's got the charm of a dead slug and the other one's got no fight left in him?"

Plutarch continued, unfazed. "Exactly, Haymitch. We're not going to use them. We need to make the districts angry at the Capitol. And nothing makes people angrier than the death of an innocent young girl who had so much to live for."

Confused, Katniss asked, "What are you talking about?"

"Didn't your young lady die in the bombing, Gale?" he drawled, turning his attention to the brooding rebel in a Mockingjay uniform.

Immediately defensive, Gale said, "Your point?"

"And didn't she leave a journal behind full of music and scribbles about the boy she loved?"

"How do you know about that?" Gale asked angrily.

"You don't actually think your life is your own when you're down here, do you? We need to take care of the little boys and girls on camera."

"We are not little children," Katniss hissed.

"Whatever. We'll get someone to play some of the songs she wrote while you read out an abridged version of her entries, especially the ones about how she was madly in love with you. You'll talk about how much you loved her, but her tragic death at the Capitol's hands cut your relationship short. The Capitol citizens and all the districts will love it and bam, more motivation to destroy the government from the rebels in other districts."

"You know, Plutarch, it's a great plan," Gale said sarcastically. "There's just one problem."

"And what might that be?" asked Coin in a voice that made Gale's skin crawl.

"I don't have the journal. I threw it into the river."

"Liar," she jeered. "You carry it with you wherever you go. You probably have it right now. Seize it!" She shouted at the guards by the door, who ran for Gale, but Katniss and Haymitch blocked them off. The guards overpowered them and began beating her, Gale, and Haymitch.

"Stop it!" shouted Boggs, but to no avail. "Are you crazy?" Even Plutarch looked hesitant, but Coin watched maliciously as the scene unfolded in front of her.

"Got it, ma'am." A guard pulled a little blue book from Gale's chest pocket and handed it to Coin. She grabbed it greedily, but she looked crestfallen when she saw what was in it. It was filled with doodles from the days Gale went to school in Twelve. She ripped the book into little pieces.

"Where is it?" she shrieked. "Where is it?"

_A penny for my thoughts, oh no, I'll sell 'em for a dollar_  
They're worth so much more after I'm a goner  
And maybe then you'll hear the words I been singin'  
Funny when you're dead how people start listenin' 

"Stop playing games with people's minds," Katniss yelled, sore and bruised. "Just send us to take down the Capitol and stop hiding behind the rebels in the other districts. If we're successful, you become the new President and you let us live quietly. If we fail, then we die and we're not your problem anymore."

Katniss ripped her arms away from the guard and stormed out before Coin could formulate a response. But Gale wasn't finished. He licked the blood flowing from his lip.

"You think I'm stupid enough to carry it around?" he sneered. "You think I'm dumb enough to give it up when it probably won't help the rebellion at all? It's funny how other people care more about a person when they're dead." But you, when you die, Coin, no one will care about you. Remember that."

...

"Prim!" Katniss screamed. She ran for her sister, who was about to walk into a death trap. Prim couldn't hear Katniss and kept running to the injured Capitol children. "Prim!

Gale was one step ahead of Katniss, and in this game, that was what mattered. He pushed Prim behind him when the bombs he designed started falling. Gale took most of the blast as he and Prim were thrown backwards.

"Are you guys okay?" Katniss asked when she reached them. Prim had a few scratches from flying debris, but Gale was badly injured.

Katniss and Prim dragged him to safety within one of the deserted houses, but they both knew he was beyond saving. Most of his skin had been burned off, giving him the appearance that he had melted. Gale was covered in a mix of his own blood and the blood of the dead children.

Katniss took her best friend into her arms. He lay in her embrace, shivering even though it wasn't cold.

"Catnip," he whispered. "Catnip, the Capitol is gone, but we've lost so much."

"Gale-"

"Finish the job, Katniss. And promise me you'll send me off like I did for her." He pleaded with her using his eyes. They were exactly like hers.

Katniss hesitated. She knew it wouldn't be easy to keep his body safe.

"Katniss..Katniss, please."

"I promise, Gale. Tell her I said hello."

"I will."

Gale knew she would keep her promise. They didn't lie to each other. He died in the arms of his best friend, his hunting partner, his sister, ready for a reunion with the girl he loved.

...

_If I die young, bury me in satin_  
Lay me down on a bed of roses  
Sink me in the river at dawn  
Send me away with the words of a love song 

"It's almost funny, seeing him covered in rose petals," Vick said, a solemn expression on his face.

"Almost," replied Rory, watching his mother cry over his brother's body. Posy cried too, even though she wasn't sure what was going on. Hazelle and Katniss took turns sprinkling the red petals over the white satin that enveloped Gale.

Prim made her way to the casket, took some of the rose petals, and sprinkled them over him. "Thanks for saving my life, Gale." She gently pulled Hazelle away from the river, both with tears in their eyes.

Katniss turned to Peeta and he handed her a little blue journal, which she placed on top of the rose petals. Then she fastened the glass lid.

"You had it all along," Haymitch said. He chuckled and shook his head. "Crazy kids."

Katniss, Peeta, Rory, and Vick lifted the casket and let it go into the river where the strawberries grew. They pushed it downstream when the sun's rays broke over the horizon. Katniss performed the District Twelve salute, placing three fingers on her lips and sending him off. Everyone followed. All the survivors from the bombing who lived after the war had made the trip to Thirteen. All wanted to pay their respects to the man they owed their lives.

"Death reaped the two lovers," Peeta said to Katniss with a somber look on his faace. He put his arm around her and pulled her into him.

"At least there won't have to be any more reapings," she replied, leaning her head against his chest. "At least they didn't die in vain."

Peeta kissed the top of her head. "You know, before we left for the mission he told me to take care of you."

Katniss looked up at her blond haired man with blue eyes. "He did?"

"Yep. It's like he knew he wouldn't be here to do it himself and I would." He looked down at her with intensity. "I will take care of you, Katniss." Maybe a year ago she would have said she didn't need taking care of, but they were both broken souls. She needed to take care of him too.

Katniss wrapped her arms around Peeta and hugged him tight. There were no words.

_The ballad of a dove_  
Go with peace and love  
Gather up your tears, keep 'em in your pocket  
Save 'em for a time when you're really gonna need 'em, oh 

Rory and Vick walked down to the strawberry patch, next to where their mother stood and let the river wash away her tears. Posy was playing with Hazelle's hair.

"Don't cry, Mom," Rory said.

"He wouldn't have wanted you to," Vick added.

"You know what he would have said," continued Rory.

"He would have said, 'Stop being stupid and don't cry over me,'" Vick said in a perfect imitation of Gale's voice.

Hazelle smiled sadly and pulled her two remaining sons into a hug. "My boys, don't you dare play the hero, ever."

"Hopefully there's never a situation in which we'd have to," Rory said while he hugged her back.

Katniss and Peeta joined the Hawthorne family at the strawberry patch. They carried eight strawberry seedlings in a tray. Prim soon followed, as did Haymitch. Katniss kneeled by the strawberries and dug eight holes with her hands. Peeta handed her a seedling. She planted it in the first hole and gathered the soil around it

"A hunting partner and a best friend."

Hazelle took a seedling. "A beautiful son."

Rory and Vick each took one. "A brother," they said in unison.

"He always cheated at my games!"

"A crazy boy."

"A fighter."

"A hero."

When they finished, there were eight new seedlings planted. Hazelle used a cup to scoop up water from the river and sprinkled it onto the soil. The eight of them stood there and remembered a man who touched all their lives in some way.

_The sharp knife of a short life, well  
I've had just enough time_

...

In a different world, a boy wearing coal miner clothes and a girl in a white dress and pearl necklace ran at each other, reunited after spending too long apart. She jumped into his arms and he spun he around, kissing her with all the passion he felt in his heart.

"I didn't expect you so soon," she said after they broke apart.

"I couldn't live without you," he replied.

"Is everyone okay?" she asked.

"As okay as they can be," he said. "Katniss says hi. But you should have known that."

She laughed and kissed him again. The boy's gray eyes became serious as he looked into her bright green ones.

"Together?" he asked, holding out his hand. She placed her fingers in between his. They fit together perfectly like a puzzle. The boy and girl walked away on a bed of roses.

"Always."

_So put on your best boys and I'll wear my pearls..._


End file.
